The Alternative
by EdenAdvance
Summary: Sequel to the Escape... the story continues


The Alternative

The Alternative by EdenAdvance

RATING: G   
SUMMARY: The Centre has an assignment for their young Pretender.  
AUTHORS NOTES: This is the sequel to Escape. It's kinda short, but hey, I'm working on it. And yeah, I do plan to write a sequel.   
DISCLAIMER: Don't own anyone except Sarah. Yeah that's the 'I' from the first one. And well I own the ideas and the title. So, don't sue me... 

Suddenly the door to my cell is thrown open and Lyle bursts in. He looks on as Willie grabs me and drags me out of the room. He follows us to the sim-lab and I wonder what time it is, but I'm too afraid to ask. The pain reminds me of my last encounter with Lyle, now only a half a day ago. 

I wonder what had upset him this time. 

I'm pushed in a chair and I watch as Willie turns to leave. Another sweeper is present, but I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting him yet. 

He wasn't one of Raines' sweepers; otherwise I probably would've known him. I look at Lyle, who is pacing the floor angrily. Suddenly he looks directly at me and I quickly look away, embarrassed that I was caught staring. If he had wanted to say or do something, the entrance of three other people interrupted him. A young woman, followed by two men, one I recognized as Sydney, entered. Sydney, probably seeing my bruised and battered face, immediately walked over to where I was seated. Sydney was one of the people in the Centre that still cared what happened to us, the children. 

I looked over to Lyle, but he was having a conversation with the woman, whose name I didn't know. Actually, the only people I knew where Mr. Raines, Lyle, Willie, Sydney, Jarod and Angelo. Of course, Angelo had told me about other people, but still I hadn't met them. The other man that had entered with Sydney, moved over to Sydney and me. I looked from Sydney to the man, then back at Sydney, curious who the man was. He laughed and introduced me to him.

"Sarah, this is Broots. He works with me when we search for Jarod." He said and turned to Broots. "Sarah is a Pretender, like Jarod. That's why she's not like Angelo." He explained. Then he looked at me again, obviously studying the bruises Lyle had caused last night. 

"What happened Sarah?" Sydney asked. When I was about to answer, not really sure if Lyle would approve, we were interrupted by the arrival of Lyle and the woman. Lyle kneeled down, so he could look me in the eye. 

"I'm going to leave you with these people for a while. You will do anything they tell you to. If anything goes wrong, you know what will happen." He said with a final threat as he left the lab. I looked at the woman, trying to determine whether she was like Lyle and Raines or if she was more like Sydney, thus to be trusted. Again, Sydney introduced us to eachother. 

"Sarah, this is Miss Parker. She's... also trying to find Jarod." He said and I instantly wondered whether they wanted him death or if they wanted to find him alive. 

"Did Lyle do this to you?" Sydney asked suddenly, making me focus on him instead of Miss Parker. I simply nodded in response. 

"Why?" Miss Parker asked. Seeing my fear for answering the question, she added "It's all right, we won't tell Lyle. Won't we Broots?" She looked at Broots. He must've been afraid of her, because he quickly nodded and then cowered behind Sydney.

Slowly, I told them what had happened last night, or what I believed was last night. 

When I finally stopped, I could hear Miss Parker say something like "What a bastard." I looked at her in surprise. Did she dare call Lyle that? Wasn't she afraid of what he could do? I decided that I would ask Sydney that question later, because, right now, I trusted him more than the others.

"Sarah..." Sydney said, getting my attention. "I have to ask you to do something for us. It's about Jarod... Some people in the Centre believe you can locate him." He said.

I didn't like the sound of that. Jarod was my friend. I would never aid in his retrieval, only in his escape. Slowly I shook my head, whether it was to avoid another headache or to hope Lyle wouldn't find out about my refusal, I don't know.

Miss Parker stood up angrily and started pacing the floor; much like Lyle had done earlier. Suddenly she stood before me, face inches away from mine. 

"Listen. You don't have a choice in the matter. If you refuse to cooperate, I'll have no other choice than to tell Lyle." She said. And she was right, I had no other option than to help the Centre find the only person who cared about me. Jarod. In my mind I apologized to him, hoping he would understand, as I told them my answer.

"Yes." 

Basically, it was the only answer I was allowed to give. It repeated in my head over and over, along with my apologies to Jarod. 

The End

© 16-12-99 EdenAdvance 


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